Christmas Day...Brunch

Christmas Day started with opening presents with Annabelle...only 2 of her 3 because she got bored with it and just wanted to play with what she got. (sorry no pics of that just video) Then we went over to Hal and Janet's for the Reiser tradition of Christmas Brunch.

Here is Annabelle in her Christmas PJ's that were sooo cute because of the hood. She's playing with her 2 cousin Josh's cars.

Here is Annabelle with a spoon in her mouth. She makes this funny face and looks up at you with a spoon sticking out. It's quite funny. (by-the-way she LOVES spoons)

We had a white elephant exchange at the brunch and Josh was our entertainment.

See she does cry...she loved to look at horse not neccesarily get on it.

Keep scrolling down we have many more posts below for more Reiser Christmas fun!

Christmas Night

Christmas ended for us with an 18lb turkey cooked to perfection by Liz. We had Nana and Bompa over for dinner and watched Elf.

Here are some leftover pics.

Since cinder block isn't really conducive to hooks we decided Brent's scrapbooks would hold them up just fine. (We get our favorite treats in our stockings)

Annabelle got a hold of an ornament painted green by Brent when he was a child...let's hope the paint wasn't toxic.


Here is her Christmas Loot. Thanks for all who contributed! We LOVE You!

Annabelle just loves "Pony Girl" by Nana. Annabelle in her official Christmas dress.

Our lovely manger scene given to us by Grandma Reiser. (one of 3 we have)

Christmas Eve

Next we had Christmas Eve at Melisssa's (Brent's Sister). We had some yummy soups and then made cookies!

The kids put on the Navitity. Cute as ever!

I think Annabelle stole the show in her cow costume.

And then it's time for the Christmas PJ's.

We don't have any stairs for Annabelle to practice on so we took this time to help her learn stairs as well. She's got going up down pat, it's the down that she wants to do head first. Any suggestions???

Christmas on the 21st!

We had our 1st Christmas on the 21st with Brent's Family since Bompa had to work on Christmas Eve.

Here we all are listening to the Navity told by Bompa...

...with a little help from Annabelle's cousins.

Then it's present time. Annabelle didn't really get the concept this year...so daddy helped.

Annabelle and Brynlee giving kisses...Isn't that just sooo precious.

Christmas Getting to know me

Christmas: Getting to know me
Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I like wrapping paper!

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial

3. When do you put up the tree? After Thanksgiving but this year it was really, really after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? In the beginning of January.

5. Do you like eggnog? No, honestly I've never tried it but it sounds gross.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A BOX! My parents say one year they had to take a loan out to get me Christmas presents and I just sat around all day playing with a box. Now that I have a child I can totally see that.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Me...I never want anything.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Annabelle...I can go overboard if you let me.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, 3 right now.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? I LOVE to receive and mail Christmas cards.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Don't know

12. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In December

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No comment...

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything...especially the candies

15. Lights on the tree? Of course!

16. Favorite Christmas song? Once in Davids Royal City.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? This year we get to do both...and I'm sooo happy. We are having Christmas Brunch with Brent's family and then we get to come home and have a home cooked meal by me.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Who can't??? Haven't we all seen Rudolf too many times to count.

19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Neither we have bows.

20. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Morning? Christmas PJ's Christmas Eve. All others Christmas day.

21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The commercialism.

22. Favorite ornament, theme or color? Our little pickle ornament gets a lot of attention.

23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? TURKEY!

24. What do you want for Christmas this year? Nothing...I already have it all!

Merry Christmas to Our Family and Friends!!!

For those who didn't get our Christmas letter:
This year has been filled with lots of joy. First we had Annabelle in the beginning of this year on January 27th. We were blessed with a happy, healthy and pretty little girl who steals our hearts with her smile. We are amazed at what a blessing she is in our lives. She is beginning to take steps and walk all around our small apartment. She has many other tricks that she has learned and it has been so fun to see her grow and develop from the tiny, little baby we brought home way back in January.

Brent is still in school, finishing his thesis for his MA degree and should be done next May. He is a wonderful ‘Dada’ and Annabelle loves to play with him. He also got a job with benefits that pay well. Who could ask for more?

Liz stays home with Annabelle now and enjoys being 'Mama' to our daughter. She is a great Mom and does a wonderful job teaching Annabelle new things every day. On occasion still works for her old boss at the hospital. The added income is always beneficial for us struggling college students.

Well we got one more thing…We got a mini van. Yep, I said mini van and we love it. It was Liz's dream mini van, a Chrysler Town & Country. We got a steal of a deal and couldn't pass up the chance to get such a nice vehicle with our little red '94 Nissan Sentra that is pushing 150,000 miles. It was time for a new car.

This year we saw the passing away of a number of our family and friends which means we have lots of angels watching over us. We feel their love constantly and sometime we think Annabelle can see them around even though we can't. We know we are watched over, protected and loved from beyond.

We are grateful for the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and are thankful that at this time of year we have the chance to think about His birth, His life and His atoning sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. What peace and joy it brings to our lives knowing that the Savior lives, that He watches over us and that He loves us.

We are a happy little family with lots of love from family and friends and we want to take this time to thank you. Without family and friends as loving as you are we would not be as happy as we are. We hope this next year comes with fulfilled dreams and peace and most of all love for you.

Love,
Brent, Liz & Annabelle Reiser

SLEEP

Brent and I made it through Annabelle "crying it out" or "the Ferber method" of sleeping. We started last Saturday with her first cry it out session from 2-2:45am and another that lasted 20-30 minutes that same night. Then they gradually got shorter and now here we are sleeping through the night twice in a row. Even though Annabelle was breaking teeth and she was eating at night as well.
I know most people think crying it out is a horrible way to treat a child. If they are crying they need you...how in the world could you leave your child while they sound like they are in distress. Well let me tell you I had all of these thoughts as well. So how did we get here? Well I think Annabelle or really any child is incredibly smart and they know crying gets them their way...but what gets you your way? Ignoring it or really feeling like a horrible mother for a couple of days and then realizing how much sleep deprivation has had an impact on you and your body. Yesterday, Wednesday I was sooo tired because I got a full night sleep without any interruptions. Then today my second day of a full night sleep I feel GREAT.
Let me tell you I do not have a single regret because this helped not only me but Annabelle as well. She sleeps continually, she doesn't need me at night like I thought she did. She needed to sleep. Yay for 12 hours of continous sleep for Annabelle! We made it and we are proud!

Some pics to update everyone

Annabelle is dressed for the storm we had today!!! The snow jacket and pants are a little too big but she'll grow into them!

This outfit is for less severe weather.

Annabelle now gives kisses to books and people. She was hoping the frog would turn into a prince (maybe next time...)

This is where she LOVES to hang out! Yep, under the table!

And lastly, this is what she looks like at every meal. Some of her favs are black beans, cottage cheese, Graduates, meat sticks, and any kind of bread or cracker. We bribe her to stay in her high chair a little longer with Nilla's so we can finish dinner. Yeah we are bad parents we know!

Tomorrow I will tackle Thanksgiving!

TAGGED

I have been tagged and I have to share 7 Random things about myself so, here we go...

#1 I'm 30...crazy huh!

#2 I really, really love to sleep. I can sleep for hours on end and I love it!

#3 I hate spending money...especially on clothes and hair. I swear I feel like a horde and I ALWAYS have buyers remorse after a large purchase even if we need it. ( a catch to that is I don't mind spending money on travel or going out to eat once a week.)

#4 I LOVE to work. Maybe that goes with #3...I've never thought of that.

#5 I LOVE to talk and talk and talk and talk..sorry to all my friends out there.

#6 I dream scary dreams of people dying, getting robbed etc...sometimes I can't tell my dreams from reality it's weird.

#7 I like to try different things but don't necessarily like to do them again... like crafts. I'll try anything once and then most likely I'll never do it again. Which is why I always borrow things because I know I'll never commit to doing something crafty. they should have a craft library for people like me. We can check out tools for a couple of days and return it.